


Finding Jack

by blackrose1002



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Declarations Of Love, Feels, First Kiss, Guns, Kidnapping, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 01:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16398605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackrose1002/pseuds/blackrose1002
Summary: When Jack is kidnapped, it's up to Mac to find him before it's too late. Unfortunately, finding someone is not as easy when you're barely holding on because your heart is literally breaking in the process.





	Finding Jack

**Author's Note:**

> My first MacDalton fic! I got sucked into this show a while ago and I love it so much, and I have a lot of feeling about these two idiots, so I just had to do something about it - hence the fic. I really hope you enjoy it and please, leave a comment, and let me know!

“ _Hey, you’ve reached the one and only Jack Dalton, you lucky dog. Leave the message after the boopity-beep, and of course, go Cowboys.”_

Mac took a deep breath when his call went to voicemail yet again, his grip on the steering wheel tightening as he tried not to come up with the worst-case scenario. When Jack hadn’t showed up on time at Mac’s house for their weekly Saturday barbecue, Mac hadn’t thought much of it, figuring Jack was just running late – Jack not being on time was a pretty common occurrence, after all. But after thirty minutes had passed, then one hour, Mac couldn’t help but grow a little concerned. Calling Jack’s phone didn’t make him feel any better – every time he tried reaching him, he was greeted with Jack’s dorky recorded message and unless Jack was pissed at him for some reason and was deliberately putting his calls straight to voicemail, it was unusual for him to not pick up his phone so many times in a row.

So there Mac was, driving well over the speed limits, praying to find Jack safe and sound at his place, and Jack telling him his phone had died and his charger was broken or anything else that explained why Mac’s calls weren’t coming through.

Pulling up next to Jack’s building, Mac got out of the car and raced up the stairs leading to Jack’s apartment, a gnawing feeling that something was not _right_ growing in his chest with every step. As Mac ran into the hallway, he halted in his steps when his eyes fell on the door to Jack’s apartment – it was open and it looked like the lock had been busted. Trying to calm down his racing heart, Mac slowly creeped towards the direction of the apartment, listening intently for any sounds coming from the inside. Hearing nothing, Mac slowly stepped inside and his heart dropped when he saw the state Jack’s living room was in. A broken coffee table, furniture scattered all over the place, shattered glass in the cabinets and what was the worst, traces of blood on the floor and on the walls. Clenching his fists, Mac forced himself to focus and did a quick sweep of the remaining rooms, but it only confirmed what Mac had already suspected – Jack was nowhere to be found. His hands trembling, Mac reached for his phone, quickly choosing the right number, and even though it was Saturday, the voice sounded on the other side only after one signal.

“What is it, Blondie?”

“Matty, I think someone took Jack.”

* * *

After making the call, all Mac could do was wait and while he had been careful not to touch anything, not wanting to destroy any kind of possible clues that could help them figure out who took Jack, there was one thing that he had to check himself, before anyone else started going through Jack’s stuff. Carefully, he opened one of the cabinets in the living room and took out Jack’s cigar box. Looking inside, he breathed out a small sigh of relief, seeing that the dog tags that had belonged to Jack’s father were still safely there. It didn’t change the fact that Jack was still missing, but Mac found some consolation in seeing that nobody took them – he knew they meant the world to Jack, therefore they meant a lot to Mac as well.

The sudden noise coming from the hallway startled Mac and when he turned around, was greeted by the sight of Phoenix’s CSI team entering the apartment, led by Matty herself. For one second he could see concern in her eyes as she glanced over the mess in the room, but then it was gone, replaced by a determined look on her face.

“Alright, listen up!” Matty said loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Bag everything, test everything, tear this place apart if you have to, but find me _something_ that will help us figure out what we’re dealing with.”

As the team got to work, Matty walked up to Mac, the expression on her face slightly softening. “Any idea what happened here?”

Hating feeling so helpless, Mac shook his head in frustration. “All I can tell you is that Jack put up one hell of a fight here.” A small smile crossed his lips – Jack would have never gone out without a fight. “But as for who we’re dealing with… I imagine the list of people Jack pissed off over the years is very long.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Matty scoffed. “It could be anyone, be it from his Delta days, CIA or someone you two crossed paths with while working for the Phoenix.”

Sighing, Mac rubbed his eyes with one hand, realizing he was still holding Jack’s cigar box. “I think I should take this with me, keep it at Phoenix or maybe in my house… Until we bring Jack back home.”

“That’s a good idea.” Matty said softly and after a few seconds of silence, she opened her mouth to say something else when a sudden thought crossed Mac’s mind.

“Oh, god, Riley.” Mac breathed out, not believing he actually forgot about her. “Have you called her yet?”

“That’s actually what I was going to say.” Matty replied. “I called her on my way here and while she wanted to come here at first, we decided the Phoenix was where she would be the most useful. She’s supposed to be going through the footage from the surveillance cameras around the neighborhood. Maybe she’ll be able to identify someone that has ties to Jack.”

“Good, that’s good.” Mac said, trying his best to stay focused because Jack’s _life_ depended on it, but it was getting hard to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest at the mere thought of Jack being in any kind of danger _without_ Mac by his side to watch his six.

“We should let the tech guys work.” Matty’s voice brought him back. “We can do more back at Phoenix.” Knowing she was right, Mac nodded wordlessly, holding the cigar box tightly in his hands as they headed out of the apartment.

In the car, neither of them said a word and while he started driving, Mac let his thoughts wander. He couldn’t help the guilt settling deep into his body and a string of four words ringing repeatedly in his mind: _it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault…_

“Mac, are you okay? Mac!” Matty’s concerned voice sounded next to him and he realized that the distress he had been feeling must have shown on his face as well.

“This is all my fault.” He said quietly, not seeing any reason to hide the truth. “It’s all my fault.”

“Mac, it is not-“

“If I hadn’t waited _for an hour_ before trying to call him, if I had called him right away, maybe he would have still been in the apartment.” Mac kept going. “I just thought he was being late, I should have called him right away, it’s all my fault.”

“Then let me ask you something.” Matty said, looking at him seriously. “The last time you were kidnapped by Murdoc, was it Jack’s fault?”

“What? Of course not.” Mac looked at her incredulously.

“Why not? You were calling him before you were taken and he sent all your calls into voicemail. Maybe if he had picked up, you wouldn’t have-“

“It wasn’t his fault, Matty!” Mac exclaimed angrily. “He couldn’t have known, you can’t blame this on him.”

“I don’t.” Matty calmly said. “But now tell me, how is today’s situation different from what happened to you with Murdoc?”

“I…” Mac found himself lost for words, realizing he fell right into the trap Matty had set for him.

“It’s not your fault, Mac. You couldn’t have known.” Matty softly said, quoting Mac’s words right back at him. “When Murdoc kidnapped you, Jack blamed himself, but I told him the exact same thing – that it wasn’t his fault. I was right then and you know I’m right now, Mac.”

Taking a deep breath, Mac nodded, doing his best to believe her words. “Matty, what if…” Mac paused, swallowing down the lump in throat. “What if it’s Murdoc who took Jack?” He asked quietly, his voice barely audible as he voiced the thought that had crossed his mind the second he saw the mess and blood in Jack’s living room; the thought that almost paralyzed him with fear.

“Then we find him. And take him down once and for all.” Matty said, her voice suddenly getting darker.

“How?” Mac asked, barely stopping hysterics from his voice. “He killed Jill, Matty. He almost killed Cage, and every time he got away without a slightest problem. What’s stopping him from just killing Jack and disappearing again?”

“If it’s Murdoc who took Jack, _if,_ ” Matty stressed. “Then we’ll figure it out. But right now, no matter how cruel it sounds, I need you to get yourself together, Blondie, because that big brain of yours? It’s our best chance to find Jack.”

Gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline, Mac nodded and took a deep breath. He was aware that he wasn’t behaving like he usually did, and he knew that Matty had noticed. It wasn’t like him to show what he was feeling, he had mastered hiding away his emotions and bottling them up a long time ago. He also wasn’t the kind of person who panicked when things went south – keeping a cool head and staying calm usually made it possible for Mac to improvise his way out of almost anything. His brain was working just fine when it came to getting other people out of trouble, hell, it even worked fine when it was him and Jack, with Jack complaining right next to him, urging Mac to faster… But not this time.

Because this time it wasn’t Mac and Jack who were in danger, it was just Jack, and Mac had to figure out the way to save him all by himself, and his brain just refused to cooperate.

Because it was _Jack._ The man who had saved Mac’s life more times than he could ever count, Mac’s partner, his best friend, his… everything. His Jack. And Mac just wasn’t able to think straight when it came to Jack.

Which was most likely the reason why Mac had been head over heels in love with Jack for years, probably since the moment they got back from Afghanistan and Jack had followed Mac to Los Angeles instead of going back home to his beloved Texas. Mac hadn’t known it then, the realization came much later, but after it did, pinpointing the moment he fell was more than easy.

Seeing the Phoenix building in the distance, Mac realized that he must have been driving on autopilot for a while because he didn’t even notice they were almost already there. After parking in the underground garage, Mac and Matty didn’t waste any time getting out of the car and immediately headed to the war room, finding Riley sitting cross-legged on one of the chairs, typing furiously on her laptop with a determined look in her eyes.

“Tell me you found something, Riley.” Matty asked, looking at her expectantly.

“Nothing.” Riley replied, not looking up from the screen, frustration lacing her voice. “Nothing suspicious from any of the cameras so far and I went through almost all the footage.”

“Which means that whoever took him avoided the cameras or at least knew how to blend in.” Matty sighed. “And that leaves us with trying to make a possible list of people who would want to hurt Jack.”

“Murdoc.” Mac spat out the word like poison, making Riley look up at him with a horrified expression on her face.

“Yes, but we also have to consider other people in case it’s not actually Murdoc this time.” Matty said. “And we need to narrow our pool of suspects somehow.”

“In that case, I think we should start with people he came across while working for the CIA.” Mac said, making Matty and Riley look at him questioningly. “If it was someone we dealt with while working for Phoenix, there’s a chance they would kidnap us both or maybe even just me, since I’m usually the one blowing the bad guys up. And while he definitely pissed off some people along with his Delta buddies, they were not the kind of people who would go after a soldier than screwed them over, especially after such a long time.”

“But some people he put away while working for the Agency are definitely the type to hold a grudge.” Matty finished for him, already grabbing her phone. “I’ll make some calls. Riley, keep working on that footage, Mac, start going through the files from Jack’s cases, see if anyone connected to him had made a trip to LA recently.”

Sighing, Mac exchanged a worried look with Riley, and then got to work, pulling up the files on the big screen, hoping he would find something, anything, that could lead him to Jack.

Hoping that when he would eventually find him, he wouldn’t be too late.

* * *

Two days.

It had been two full days since the day Jack was taken and they had no leads. Riley came up empty with the surveillance footage and so far Mac had been unable to find anything in Jack’s CIA files that would point them in a direction of a possible suspect. The CSI team hadn’t found anything useful in Jack’s apartment either, the blood had tested positive for Jack’s, but that was something Mac had already suspected, no matter how sick thinking about Jack being hurt made him. Other than that, there was nothing, no fingerprints, no DNA samples, nothing. It had been two days and they had nothing.

It was the reason why Mac found himself back in Jack’s apartment on Monday morning, standing in the middle of his living room and looking around, hoping to spot something he or the CSI team had missed before. But no matter how hard he looked, no matter how thoroughly he searched, he couldn’t find anything. His hands trembling, he dropped down on one of Jack’s chair, burying his head in his hands and trying his best not to let the tears fall. Never in his life he had felt so helpless and lost, not knowing what to do. All he wanted was to have Jack back. It didn’t even matter that Jack didn’t feel the same way about him, it was something Mac had made peace with a long time ago. He was fine going on just as they were, partners and best friends, he would be the happiest man alive as long as he got to keep Jack in his life. But for that to happen, Jack needed to be alive and right there by Mac’s side, and for now Mac had been unable to do anything about it, and it was killing him inside. Jack was gone and Mac was being completely useless, letting down not just everyone around him, but, most importantly, Jack.

And letting down Jack was not something Mac could live with.

A sudden noise brought Mac out of his misery spiral, startling him, and he frowned, trying to identify the noise. Hearing it again, he walked up to the window and saw a bunch of teenagers on their skateboards, doing all kinds of different tricks, but what really caught his attention, was a camera in one of the kid’s hands. A camera that he was using to record himself and his friends.

An idea popping up in his mind, Mac rushed out of the apartment and ran down the stairs, quickly approaching the kid with the camera. “Hey.” Mac gasped, out of breath. “Were you here on Saturday, in the morning or early afternoon?”

“We’re here every day, bro. What’s it to you?” The kid eyed him suspiciously, but Mac didn’t care in the slightest.

“Were you recording that day?”

“What if we were? You got a problem with that?”

“No, no.” Mac raised his hands in a calming gesture. “I just need to see the videos from that day, that’s all.”

“Sorry, man.” The kid shrugged. “I delete everything after uploading.”

“Uploading where?” Mac asked and there must have been something in his eyes that told the skater Mac was not messing around.

“YouTube. Where else?”

“I’m going to need the name of your channel.” Mac said, already taking out his phone.

“What, are you serious-“

“YES!” Mac interrupted him, not wanting to waste any more time. “Please.” He added more calmly, realizing scaring the teenager away wouldn’t do him any good. “It’s important.”

After getting the name from the skater, Mac rushed to his car, calling Riley on the way. “Riles, I need you to go over the videos on the YouTube channel I just sent you. These kids were filming their skateboard tricks right next to Jack’s apartment, maybe their camera caught something.”

Driving like a maniac, Mac reached the Phoenix Foundation in a record time, trying not to get his hopes up, but failing miserably – he needed something to hold on to, otherwise he would go insane. Running into the war room, he discovered Bozer and Matty were already there, standing over Riley with carefully hopeful expressions on their faces.

“Anything?” Mac asked, already fearing the answer was going to be negative, but there was something in the atmosphere in the room that made him dare to hope.

“Actually, yes.” Riley replied, focused on her screen. “I noticed something in one of the videos and after enhancing the image, I found this.” Typing something on her keyboard, she played the video on the big screen on the wall.

The video was of a few skaters trying to pull of some complicated jumps, but then Riley zoomed in, focusing more on the background and Mac took a deep breath when he realized what he was watching – there were two men shoving a third man into the trunk of their car, a man that looked very much like Jack Dalton.

“Riley, _please_ , tell me you can identify that car.” Mac said, not caring how pleading his voice sounded. It was their first and possibly only lead, there was no chance he was letting it go.

“Yeah, I managed to zoom in on the license plate. The reason why it didn’t pop up on my radar when I was going through the neighborhood cameras is because this car wasn’t actually stolen, it was registered to someone with a very good fake ID, but now that I knew something was up, it was way easier to uncover.”

“Have you managed to track it down?” Matty asked while Mac paced around the room, unable to stand still.

“Working on that now, the GPS had been disabled, but I should be able to turn it back on remotely…” Riley muttered, mostly to herself, typing on her keyboard faster than ever before. “Found it! It’s parked in one of the warehouses in the industrial area.”

Seeing the coordinates pop up on his phone after Riley uploaded them, Mac ran out of the war room, ignoring everyone else in the room, his mind set on one thing only – Jack.

“Shouldn’t he wait for the tac team?” Riley asked with concern as she watched Mac run in the direction of the stairs.

“We all know he ain’t gonna do that, it’s Jack.” Bozer said with a soft smile. “You should probably send a tac team after him though.” He added, looking at Matty who already had the phone in her hand.

“Way ahead of you, Bozer.”

* * *

Parking in the industrial area, Mac jumped out of the car, and quietly jogged in the direction of the warehouse, following the coordinates on his phone. He knew he was being reckless, going in by himself, but he refused to waste any more time – he kept Jack waiting long enough. Besides, he was sure Matty had sent a tac team after him the second he ran out of the war room, so they should probably be there any minute now anyway.

Mac was almost by the door when it suddenly opened and an armed man walked outside, presumably to go on the patrol around the warehouse. He clearly wasn’t expecting to see anyone out there because he reacted too slow and before he was able to reach for his gun, Mac was already on him, shoving him against the wall and throwing the first punch. It wasn’t enough to knock him out, but kneeing him in the stomach and punching him a few more times seemed to do the trick as the guy limply slid down the wall. After one second of hesitation, Mac grabbed the gun the man had dropped – it could come in handy later on, not just for shooting, the guns consisted of many useful parts that Mac could always use in case he needed to build something really quick.

Leaving the guy for the tac team to deal with, Mac slipped inside the warehouse, hiding behind the crates, looking around and trying to figure out where the kidnappers could have put Jack. Moving deeper inside, Mac noticed a corridor that probably led to a few smaller rooms in the back of the warehouse and what made him even more sure that it was the right direction, were three armed men standing right in the middle of Mac’s way to Jack.

Before he even had time to try to think of a way to get past them, a loud noise sounded behind them and suddenly the guys from the Phoenix tac team busted inside, effectively drawing the guards’ attention who immediately ran to take cover, pulling their guns out. Thankful for the distraction, Mac surged forward, sprinting in the direction of the dark corridor. He was aware of the gunshots sounding behind him, but he kept running, there was only one thing that mattered to him – finding Jack.

Checking and clearing every room he had passed, Mac kept moving forward until there was only one room left. Rushing inside, Mac froze, his heart dropping at the sight in front of him. There was Jack, in the middle of the room, with his arms above his head, his wrists bound with a rope tied to the ceiling. There was blood on his face and his arms, but he was conscious, he was _alive._ What was more worrying was the man standing in front of him, with his gun pointed right at Jack and his finger on the trigger. And there was no time to figure something out, no time for his inventions, no time to improvise, so Mac did the only possible thing he could – he reached for the gun he took from the guy he knocked out.

Mac didn’t like guns, that was true. But that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to use them and there was nothing, _nothing,_ he wouldn’t do to save Jack.

So he raised the gun and quickly fired two shots, aiming for center mass, and when the man fell down to the ground, Mac slowly walked closer and carefully kneeled down to check for the pulse. After confirming the man was dead, Mac tossed the gun aside, running up to Jack.

“Hang on, Jack, hang on, I got you.” Mac muttered, taking out his knife and trying to cut the rope above Jack’s head. It took some effort since the rope was the only thing keeping Jack standing and it was strained under his weight, but Mac managed. The moment the rope was cut, Jack went down and would have collapsed on the ground if it wasn’t for Mac’s arms instantly wrapping around him. Gently, he eased them both on the floor, not loosening his grip on Jack and when he felt his partner’s arms circle around him, for the first time in two days Mac felt like he was able to breathe.

“Sorry for… missing the barbecue.” Jack rasped out against his shoulder.

Relief flooding his veins, Mac let out a small laugh. “Under the circumstances, I think I can forgive you.”

“I knew you’d… find me.” Jack muttered and Mac tightened his arms around him, squeezing his eyes shut.

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Dsn’t matter.” Jack slurred, his body sagging against Mac. “You’re here now.”

“I am, buddy, I am.” Mac said, his body tensing when he heard a sound coming from the corridor, but he forced his body to relax when he saw the guys from the tac team. “I’m not going anywhere.” He added quietly, not sure if Jack could even hear him, but it wasn’t important. Jack was alive and it was all that mattered.

Mac wasn’t sure how long they were sitting on the floor like this, but he was forced to let Jack go when the paramedics arrived. Refusing to let Jack out of his sight, he rode the ambulance with them, watching Jack like a hawk during the whole ride, ignoring everything and everyone around him – his focus was on Jack and Jack only. In the hospital, they forced him to sit in the waiting area while they examined Jack and it was enough to almost make him go insane all over again. Matty, Riley and Bozer got there soon after him and even though Mac didn’t say it out loud, he was thankful he didn’t have to wait all by himself. They sat mostly in silence, but the presence of his friends was comforting.

“You know,” Matty started when Bozer and Riley went to get some coffee, and it was just the two of them in the waiting room. “Now that you almost lost him, maybe you should finally do something about these heart eyes of yours.”

Choking on air, Mac whipped his head to look at her with wide eyes. “What?”

“Come on, Blondie.” Matty rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious from the way you look at him.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mac said stubbornly, staring at the wall ahead of him.

“Right.” Matty arched her eyebrow. “Wanna know a secret, though?” Waiting for Mac to look at her, she smiled. “He looks at you the same way. Everybody sees it except you two, you oblivious idiots.”

Seeing Mac obviously at a loss for words, Matty’s grin widened. “With you being the smartest person I have ever met, it’s fun to know you still can be dumb sometimes. I’ll let your brain mull over all of this in peace now.”

Still too shocked to actually form a reply, Mac just sat still on his chair, going through his conversation with Matty over and over in his head, trying to understand what the hell had just happened. His internal turmoil was interrupted by the doctor coming to update them. Listening to him listing Jack’s injuries made Mac’s insides twist in guilt, _he should have found him sooner_ , but thankfully, the injuries weren’t that severe. A few broken ribs, a concussion, plenty of cuts and bruises, but with some time, Jack should be just fine.

Getting a permission to stay after the visiting hours, Mac got settled in Jack’s room, determined not to leave his side again, not until that feeling of panic inside him was gone. He just needed Jack right next to him, he needed to be able to look up and see him right there, alive and safe. The doctor had said that Jack would be asleep for a while because of the painkillers they had given him, but that was okay with Mac, he was content with keeping guard by Jack’s bed, he didn’t need him to be awake. Seeing Jack breathe slowly, in and out, was enough.

After a while of sitting in silence, Mac could feel the exhaustion of the past two days catching up with him. Closing his eyes, he focused on the sound of Jack’s breathing, letting it lull him to restless sleep. He didn’t know how long he had been dozing off on that uncomfortable hospital chair, but when a loud groan sounded from the bed, it instantly brought him back to consciousness.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty.” Mac teased with a yawn, seeing Jack was awake, and he couldn’t remember the last time he was so happy to see Jack’s dark eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Like death warmed over, that’s how.” Jack muttered, blinking his eyes to get more awake. “But lemme tell ya, dude, you look like shit.”

“Thanks, man.” Mac rolled his eyes. “Look who’s talking.”

“If I look like I feel right now, then fair point.” Jack conceded, and Mac felt like weeping in relief – hearing Jack’s voice, him joking around, it was something that, for a moment, Mac had feared he would never get to witness again.

“Before I forget,” Mac started. “When they let you out and you go home, don’t freak out when you don’t see your cigar box, I took it with me, so no one would mess around with it.”

“I really appreciate it, man.” Jack replied quietly, gratitude shining in his eyes and Mac smiled – he knew he was doing the right thing taking the dog tags from the apartment.

“Hey, Mac.” Jack said after a moment, sounding more serious than before. “I’m really sorry, man. That you had to shoot that one guy.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“No, man, I know how much you dislike guns, so I’m-“

“Jack.” Mac cut him off, giving Jack a pointed look. “He was going to kill you. There was no other choice to make and I don’t regret doing it.”

Wordlessly, Jack nodded and something flashed on his face, an emotion Mac couldn’t quite describe, and suddenly Matty’s words rang in Mac’s head.

_He looks at you the same way._

Taking a deep breath, Mac decided to take the biggest risk of his life. “Jack, I… I don’t think I can live without you.”

“When I realized you were taken it was like… it felt like someone had punched the air out of me.” Mac began, looking down at his hands, not wanting to see the rejection on Jack’s face. But now that he had started, he had to get it all out. “And then it got even worse because I couldn’t find you, I couldn’t come up with anything to help us locate you, and it was like my soul was being torn to pieces.”

Feeling the tears well up in his eyes, Mac took in a stuttering breath. “Everyone was counting on me to come up with a brilliant plan, but I just couldn’t _think_ , the fear of losing you paralyzed me like never before.” Wiping his eyes, Mac chuckled wetly. “It’s funny, I seem to be able to think just fine when my life is in danger, but when it came to you, I just... my brain froze. I wasn’t able to improvise my way out of this one.”

“I’m… I realize all of that is probably not what you wanted to hear today, but there was a moment when I thought I lost you, and one of my biggest regrets was not telling you the truth about how I felt.” Mac sighed, rubbing his eyes. “You have to know that I’m completely fine with nothing changing between us, I just… I needed to tell you.”

“What if it’s not what I want?” Jack asked hoarsely and when Mac glanced at him, Jack was looking at him with such a vulnerable look on his face that it made Mac’s heart stutter.

“What?”

“What if nothing changing between us is not what I want?”

“Jack…” Mac started, but paused, not daring to get his hopes up.

“If I could, I’d be kissing you right now, but I’m stuck in that damn-“

Not waiting for Jack to finish, Mac surged forward, at the very last second remembering Jack’s injuries, so instead of crashing their lips together, he kissed him gently before leaning his forehead against Jack’s.

“God, please, tell me I’m not high on painkillers and dreaming right now.” Jack whispered, his breath ghosting on Mac’s lips.

Smiling, Mac kissed him again. “Chances of us dreaming the same dream are pretty slim, so I’d say no, this is definitely real.”

“Thank god.” Jack breathed out. “I had never thought I’d get a chance to say these words out loud, but… I love you, Mac. I really do.”

“Matty was right, we’re both oblivious idiots.“ Mac chuckled, pulling away and sitting on Jack’s bed, grabbing his hand. “I love you too. So, please, do me a favor and next time you’re getting kidnapped, make sure I’m right there with you.”

“Hell no, I don’t think so.” Jack protested and Mac rolled his eyes fondly.

“I think better when I’m with you.” Mac said. “So as long as we’re together, I will _always_ figure out a way to get you out.”

“Make it us, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“I will always figure out a way to get _us_ out.” Mac corrected himself, squeezing Jack’s hand. “Deal?”

“Deal.”

Bending down, Mac pressed his lips against Jack’s, pouring all of his feelings into the kiss. “I am never letting you go.” He whispered fervently, cupping Jack’s face with his hands and looking into his dark eyes.

Grinning, Jack pulled him back. “I’m gonna hold you to that, babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know Mac doesn't use guns - but one night I was lying in bed thinking that I would kill for Mac to use one if it was the only way he could save Jack's life. So, I decided to write it myself.
> 
>  *Edit: Check out my [series "Finding Out"](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1173716) that is set in this fic's universe and features reactions of different people to finding out about Mac and Jack.
> 
> [Say hi to me on tumblr!](http://dont-stop-believin-in-klaine.tumblr.com)


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